Blu-ray

After a string of successes in the late sixties and early seventies with a series of anthology horror movies that rivalled the Hammer film output, American producer Milton Subotsky once again jumped on the bandwagon with this 1981 offering aimed at a much younger audience. Draconian censorship laws in the UK had seen to it that all of Subotsky’s previous portmanteau pictures had been X certificate, but the change in attitude towards horror movies and the success of TV shows like the Hammer House of Horror and the American series Night Gallery, in which the frights were more tongue-in-cheek, convinced Subotsky that he could get away with scaring the pants off a more juvenile audience.

The premise of The Monster Club is three tales of terror related by Vincent Price to the famous horror author R. Chetwynd-Hayes (John Carradine), at a secret nightclub where all things are decidedly bump-in-the-night. In a setting that resembles a low-budget version of the Cantina Bar in Star Wars or the commissary at the London Dungeon, and amid a crowd of monstrous looking teenage dancers whose acne has run rampant like some nightmare version of a Top of the Pops audience, Price sets the scene with a tongue- teaser about ‘Shadmocks’ and ‘Humghouls’ that’s on a par with Danny Kaye’s ‘Vessel with a pestle’ speech in The Court Jester.

In-between the stories, the gyrating customers of the Monster Club boogie to some instantly forgettable pop songs, with equally hideous lyrics, in what was obviously an attempt by the filmmakers to grab its teenage audience. While none of these songs would even stand a chance of winning Eurovision, there is a feeling that the whole idea was designed to cash in on the hugely successful musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show phenomenon of the mid-seventies.

As for the three stories themselves, adapted from material by Chetwynd-Hayes, they are very hit and miss. The first, in which a young couple (Simon Ward and Barbara Kellerman) trick a mysterious recluse (a cadaverous looking James Laurenson) out of his life savings does serve up a ghastly, if inevitable climax. The second is a humourous attempt to retell the story of a certain ‘Transylvanian Count’ (Richard Johnson), who happens to be living in London with his wife (Britt Ekland) and young son until bloated vampire hunter Donald Pleasence appears on the scene. The final story has some creepy moments with a film producer (Stuart Whitman) becoming imprisoned in a medieval village while scouting a new film location. Unlike his fellow actors, the ageing Whitman appears to be taking the whole thing very seriously, which does add to the tension in the best of the three.

The whole affair should have been in safe hands with director Roy Ward Baker at the helm, but the corny acting, low-budget production values and weak script ensured that on it’s original release the film disappeared without a trace.

Picture: The 1.78:1 aspect ratio picture quality is stunning. The coloured lighting in the nightclub is bright and eerie. Price and Carradine may very well have more crevices in their complexion than the Grand Canyon, but the hi-def quality brings out every ancient feature (Chapter 1). The crumbling village and the sinister graveyard in the final story (chapter 9) also looks clear and sharp, with its brooding grey skies in stark contrast to the sunlit scene that precedes it.
Picture rating:  4/5

Audio: The LPCM 2.0 soundtrack offers great clarity, particularly given Price’s mellow voice against the background sounds of the Monster Club itself. The music played by a grab bag of singers such as B. A. Robertson and Chris Thimpson, and bands like The Pretty Things is also clear as crystal given the limitations of the mix (chapter 8). Some of the best music is reserved for the stories however; with Johann Strauss providing the melancholy background to the first story (chapter 2) and a wonderful medley of violin music, cobbled together (supposedly) from old Transylvanian folk songs, in the second story (chapter 6).
Audio rating:  3/5

Extras: Unlike the American Blu-ray version which features a lengthy interview with Price, Network's UK disc chickens out with just two theatrical trailers, an isolated music track, image gallery and a two-minute Monster Club promo which is just a montage of scenes from the movie. All in all a bit disappointing.
Extras rating: 1.5/5

We say: A curious mix of horror and comedy that fails to score in either genre.

The Monster Club, Network, Region B BD, £15 Approx
HCC VERDICT  2/5